Why? Sustainability touches every aspect of an organization, from corporate stewardship to brand communication to transparency and governance to environmental interaction to employee relations to health and wellness. And while examining your business from this vantage point may seem overwhelming, it quickly becomes less burdensome when you recognize sustainability directly impacts your company’s longevity and success.
Is it really important?
Thoughtful leadership questions a paradigm shift or the need to adopt a new behavior prior to actualization. But when it comes to embracing sustainability, a strong business case exists already.
For example, on Deloitte’s website, sustainability is termed “a fundamental change driving long-term profitability,” referencing opportunities for innovation; human capital and technology changes; the implementation of high value processes; waste, emissions, water and energy issues; regulatory requirements; new growth markets; and shareholder expectations.
In May 2010, David Lubin and Daniel Esty talked about the “sustainability imperative” in the Harvard Business Review. They referred to sustainability as an emerging megatrend, citing environmental issues as steadily encroaching “on businesses’ capacity to create value for customers, shareholders and other stakeholders.”
When a survey of chief executive officers was released by the United Nations Global Compact and Accenture in June 2010, sustainability was identified as critical to the future of companies, citing the growing number of environmental, societal and governance concerns.
And, these CEOs considered the corporate attributes of brand, trust and reputation as the primary drivers to act on sustainability. Other motivators, in descending order, were the potential for revenue growth and cost reduction, personal motivation, consumer and customer demand, and employee engagement and retention.
Tapping into resources
Whether you are starting your sustainability journey or have it underway, a plethora of resources and volumes of data are available to assist you. In fact, Google produces 39,700,000 results for “sustainability” in .05 seconds.
But before you seek help, it is critical to understand where you are in this process by identifying how your resources are allocated in terms of corporate stewardship, environmentally-friendly behavior, diversity initiatives, corporate ethics and transparency, employee relations and other sustainability matters.
After completing a comprehensive inventory, you must determine where to concentrate initially and what your long-term goals are.
Ceres, a national network of investors, environmental groups and other public entities, emphasizes the necessity of business sustainability to achieve a global economy that supports today’s population and the projected 9 billion people in 2050. It’s Roadmap for Sustainability identifies four areas considered key for a comprehensive and coherent sustainable business strategy: governance, stakeholder engagement, disclosure and performance.
But, there are numerous other well-known and highly reputable nonprofits, businesses and government entities that offer guidance, tools, or collaborative opportunities, such as the Conference Board for the Center of Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability; Institute for Sustainability; Business Civic Leadership Center; Harvard’s Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative; Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship; Business Social Responsibility; the Environmental Protection Agency; and University of Cambridge Program for Sustainability Leadership.
Embed into the culture
Sustainability is more than producing an annual report, signing a public commitment, or winning corporate philanthropy and environmental awards or certifications. It must permeate a company’s culture, engaging everyone from the board of directors to the least paid employee.
There are roadblocks. Capital investments in eco-friendly technologies may not be predicted to generate sufficient return on investment or in a timely manner.
Current corporate infrastructures may have barriers that prevent implementing environmentally-sound practices. Broadening the corporate perspective to include societal issues or the impact of the company on a community may require changing a business plan or corporate objectives.
Changing human resource guidelines that have served the organization well for many years may face major challenges. Introducing a new strategy across business functions can be extremely complex.
Such inhibitors, however, can be overcome when everyone makes sustainability a priority and focuses on innovative solutions for issues.
Thus, the board of directors must demand a commitment to sustainability; and executive management must demonstrate its importance by leading, educating, recognizing and requiring accountability. Only then can the entire organization begin the cultural change necessary to bring the sustainability platform to life.
Easy? No. But sustainability is a necessity for companies focused on their future and their reputation.
Ruth Ellen Kinzey, The Kinzey Company is a corporate reputation strategist, consultant, and professional speaker. Want to hear more about a specific topic? She can be reached at (704) 763-0754 or http://www.kinzeycompany.com.
